Conspiracy of Kindness

Conspiracy of Kindness: A Refreshing New Approach to Sharing the Love of Jesus with Others by Steve Sjogren

This book has been on my to-read list for several years, ever since a pastor at ECC mentioned it in his sermon. I have no recollection of the context of his comment or what about it made me want to read the book, but this month I finally picked it up from the library and gave it a read.

It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but I found it thought-provoking never the less. Sjogren presents the reader with the reasoning behind his church's strong emphasis on servant evangelism. He shares tons of anecdotes about the projects that he has been involved in and offers practical advice for others interested in beginning to serve.

I found it inspiring to know that in Cincinnati (where Sjogren's church is located), the community is constantly being shown the love of God in practical ways. This type of evangelism is foreign, or at best overlooked by many Christians. However it may well be the most effective way to share the Word of God. Sjogren explains that "we can either try to convince others in the arena of the mind or we can approach people in the arena of the heart." Traditionally, Christians often try to argue the truth into the minds of unbelievers. "We assume that if we could just get unbelievers to think straight, then we would see them come to Christ," when in reality, change is more likely to come when we begin by touching people's hearts.

Recently, I read a newspaper article about a local church that was doing some type of outreach to unchurched people in their community. Some individuals in the church were upset that the message of Jesus wasn't being explicitly shared and explained at these outreach events. A leader in the church responded by saying that "it's more important to act like Jesus than to talk about Jesus." This simply statement is profound. If Christians would truly love others as Jesus loves them by meeting their practical, everyday needs without expecting anything in return, perhaps people would notice those actions, be touched by the love of God and begin to ask more about who exactly we Christians are and why we do what we do. Then we would have the opportunity to talk about Jesus to hearts that have already begun to open up to him.